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Berkeley, Ca - Washington State's Whitney Evans leads the heptathlon and Oregon's Santiago Lorenzo from the University of Oregon held the lead in the decathlon after the first day of competition at the Pac-10 Multi-Events Championships Saturday at the University of California.

The events conclude Sunday afternoon.

Evans, who was third in the Pac-10 heptathlon in 1999 and redshirted last season, has 3,318 points after the first four events. Julie Tinker of Stanford is a close second with 3,305 points, while WSU's Ellannee Richardson is third at 3,205.

In decathlon competition, Lorenzo, who finished second the last two years, scored 3,920 points to open a 150-point lead over WSU's Steve Dwyer (3,770 points). Stanford's Jason Goff is currently fifth with 3,717 points.

Sunday's events get underway at 11 a.m. with the men's 110 meter hurdles and conclude at 5:15 p.m. with the men's 1,500 meters.

The meet attracts athletes seeking qualifying times and marks for the NCAA Championships in June, and for post-collegiate athletes needing standards for such events as the USATF and World Championships.

The men's 800 meters will be one of the meet's feature races. Canada's Zach Whitmarsh has the fastest time in the field at 1:46.07 followed by Stanford Olympian Michael Stember at 1:46.20. Also look for championship results from SMU's Roman Oravec who placed fourth at the NCAA Indoor's at 1:47.71. Jeff DeLong of Central Michigan has a best time of 1:47.70.

The women's 800 meters also looks like a championship field with such competitors as Nicole Teter of Reebok Aggies and Diane Cummins of Pacific Sports. Both have run sub-2:02 personal bests. Tanya Wright and Aimee Tereris have run 2:05.31 and 2:06.56, respectively. Stanford has a group of sub-2:07 runners expected to compete.

The men's 1,500 meters always attracts a top field at Stanford's Cobb Track & Angell Field. Former Stanford All-American Jason Lunn has the fastest time in Sunday's field at 3:36.80. Last year at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Lunn finished fourth. SMU's Dalibor Balgac has a career-best of 3:40.76, while Nick MacFalls of the Nike Farm Team has run 3:41.85. Other top competitors include Steve Slattery and Jorge Torres from Colorado, and Mexico's Juan Luis Barrios.

Leslie Higgins and Jodie Hughes from the University of Colorado have NCAA automatic qualifying standards in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and 5,000 meters, but will compete on Sunday in the women's 1,500 meters.

The women's 5,000 meters will feature Kim Fitchen of the Nike Farm Team and Kara Grgas-Wheeler of Colorado. Fitchen won the 5,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational in March, and has the fastest time in the 10,000 meters this year at 32:14.64. Grgas-Wheeler is the defending NCAA 5,000 meter champion and won the 2000 NCAA cross country crown.

The field events will also be strong. The men's discus will include at least four athletes capable of breaking the 200-foot barrier. The list includes Stanford associate head coach Robert Weir (also a Great Britain Olympian), Jarod Rome, and former Washington State All-American Ian Waltz.

Stanford's top throwers will also compete in an attempt to solidify their spots in the NCAA's. Freshman standout Jillian Camarena and school record holder Chad Wassink will compete in their speciality events, the shot put and javelin.